Sheet piling and the process of assembling the same



, Aug. 8, 1944. 05R. ODMAN 2,355,102

I SHEET PILING AND THE PROCESS OF ASSEMBLING THE'SAME Filed Oct. 15,1942 .Z7ZW672f074 qgdeza Odman Jltorfufyp' Patented Aug. 8, 1944 UNITED;STATES PATENT OFFICE SHEET PILING AND THE PROCESS OF ASSEMBLING THE SAMEOgden R. Odman, Elmwood Park, Ill.

Application October 15, 1942, Serial No. 462,107

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in sheet piling and has for itsobject to provide a new and improved piling of this description.

The invention has as a further object to provide sheet piling where theinterlocking edge of the new pile may be easily, quickly and efiicientlybrought into interlocking position with the interlocking edge of thedriven pile, that is the pile already driven into position.

The invention has as a further object to provide means for expeditingthe driving of sheet piling.

In the driving of sheet piling, there is a pile driver crew consistingusually of six to nine men. The new sheet pile is lowered bymeans of aderrick or crane boom operated by an engine controlled by an engineer.

The adjacent edges of the sheet piles have interlocking parts whichconsist of two opposed members, one of which projects outwardly from theface of the pile and which is called the thumb, the other being thecontinuation of the sheet, which is called the finger. The thumb andfinger extend the length of the pile and have a space between them intowhich the thumb of the new pile is placed, the thumb sliding down alongthis space as the new pile is driven into position.

Sheet piling today, as delivered from the mill, has straight endssubstantially at right angles to the vertical edges. Due to the smalltolerance allowed between the interlocking thumb and finger of the pile,it is quite difiicult to enter the interlocking parts of the new pileinto the interlocking position with the interlocking parts of the drivenpile. Many factors act to make this difficult, namely, high windvelocity, insufficient control of the engine handling the new pile,improper braking action of the engine and, if the. equipment for drivingthe pile is floating equipment, there is the surge and roll of the waterwhich causes the derrick and the driver and the man attempting to makethe interlock to sway, thus rendering it exceedingly difiicult to bringthe parts into interlockin position.

The man who guides the new sheet" pile to its interlocking position withthe sheet'pile previously driven generally sits astride the upper end ofthe previously driven pile with his feet in stirrups. The tops of thesepreviously driven piles may be, and often are, from five to ten feetabove the surrounding surface. The pile guiding mans task is to takehold of the-bottom of the new pile, suspended from the end of thederrick or crane boom, and bring the interlock ing members of one edgeof the new pile adjacent to'and in position to interlock with thepreviously driven pile. The space between the finger and the thumb ofthe pile is just about the right size to receive the interlocking memberof the new pile, there being generally a small tolerance of aboutthreeeights of an inch. Great accuracy is, therefore, required of thepile guiding man to get the new pile in proper interlocking position. vWith the present method in use, the pile guiding man wasrequired to havehisarms around the new pile and the engineer running the engine couldnot see when the guiding man-had the'new pile in proper position to belowered and the guiding man had .to signal theengineer.

Since both of the arms "of the pileguiding'man were engaged, his onlymeans for giving this signal was by nodding his head or calling out, and

to makethe interlock. During all of this time.

the siX to nine men operating the pile driver were producing nobeneficial result and may be said to be. practically idle. Thismade the"driving of these sheet piles very expensive. My present inventionobviates this difficulty and this waste of time of the men. a

I In my improved pile the lower end of the thumb of the new pile, to beinterlocked with: the pile already driven, is removed for a shortdistance from the lower end of the pile, say a few inches. With thisdevice all it isnecessary' for the guiding man todo is to movethe-finger at the lower end of the new pile in contact with the thumb atthe top of the pile already driven.

This can be done quickly and easily and provides a, perfect guide forinsuring the receipt of the thumb of the new pile into the space betweenthethumb and finger as the pile is lowered by the engine. The pileguidingman does not need to signal the engineer because the engineercan-i see when the finger of the new pile is brought into contactwiththe thumb of the pile already driven and can instantly lower the new.pile into its interlocking position.

' Referring now to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a View showing a portion ofone of the sheet piles embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view showing the new pile in the first step of interlockingit with the driven pile;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several figures.

I have illustrated in the drawing one form of the device embodying theinvention. In this construction the sheet pile I is provided at one edgewith the thumb 2 having the enlargement 2a and the finger 3 with thespace 4 between them into which the thumb of the adjacent pile isreceived. The other edge of the pile is provided with similar parts,namely, a thumb 2, a finger 3 and a space 4 into which the thumb of theadjacent pile is received.

The pile is shown as having a straight hori- Y zontal top 8 and astraight horizontal bottom 9.

I have shown the piles l and II which have been driven into position andwhich have their adjacent edges interlocking. Each of these piles hasthe lower part of the thumb, at one edge, omitted or removed, as shownat I2, so that a portion l 3 of the finger 3 projects below the lowerend M of the thumb.

The new pile I, which is about to be driven by the pile driver, issuspended by a cable passing over a pulley and attached to a drum whichis rotated by an engine. This new pile is lowered until its lower endcomes opposite the upper end of the adjacentpile I0 and the pile guidingman then grasps the pile, I and moves the projecting portion l3of thefinger 3 over into contact with the thumb 2 of the adjacent pile Ill.This brings the end ofthe thumb of the new. pile in alignment with thespace 4 betweenthe thumb and finger of the adjacent pile so that the newpile is ready to be lowered into interlocking position with the adjacentdriven pile.

The engineersees when the pile guiding man has brought the projectingpart l3 of the finger into overlapping contact with the thumb of theadjacent pile or, if he cannotsee the pile guiding man, then signalshim. The engineer then lowers the new pile, the thumb of the new pileslidinginto the space 4 of the adjacent pile. The interlocking parts ofthe new. pile slide along the interlocking parts of the adjacent pileuntil the bottom of the new pile strikes the surface into which it is tobe driven. The new pile. is then driven into position. This procedurecontinues until all of the piles havebeen driven into position.

It will thus be seen that all the pile guiding man has to do is to movethe. new pile so that the projecting portion l 3- of the finger engagesthe thumbof theadjacent pilebecause when in this position the adjacentpile actsas a stopand a holding device for-preventing the thumb ofthenew pile from getting out of alignment with the space 4 between thethumb and finger ofv the adjacent pile.

It will further be seen that the swaying of the new pile due to highwind. velocity, insufiicient control of the engine handling it orimproper braking action of the engine, or the surge and roll of thewater where the equipment is floating equipment, which with the devicenoW in use makes it so difiicult to bring and hold; the thumb of the newpile in proper alignment with the space 4 between the thumband finger ofthe adjacent pile, is entirely eliminated. All the pile guiding man hasto do is tobring these parts together and apply pressure to the new pileto hold it in engagement with the adjacent pile.

The driving of the piles can, therefore, be speeded up and thewaste oftime, unavoidable with the piles now in use, is eliminated.

It is desirable to have the ends of the thumbs of the new pile cut awayat each side so that the piles can be driven from either side. It is, ofcourse, evident that instead of cutting away the ends of the thumbs ofthe piles, the piles can be made with a portion of the finger projectingbeyond the ends of the thumbs.

I claim:

1. A sheet pile comprising a body portion having two interlockingmembers at one edge thereof integral with said body portion andextending longitudinally therealong one of the interlocking membersextending the full length of the body portion and the other interlockingmember being shorter than said first mentioned member so that a sideface of the longer interlocking member is exposed and not obstructed bythe end of the shorter interlocking member.

2. A sheet pile construction comprising two cooperating and interfittingpiles, each having a body portion and each having at one edge andintegral with the body portion a cooperating finger and thumb with aspace between them, which interfits with an adjacent pile, having asimilar thumb and finger, by moving the piles relatively longitudinallywhich thumb and finger hold the piles against lateral separation, one ofthe piles having a portion of its finger projecting longitudinallybeyond the end of the thumb so that when said pile is brought intoassembling position with the other pile with the projecting portion ofsaid finger engaging and overlapping the thumb of the other pile, thethumb of the first mentioned pile is in alignment with the space betweenthe finger and thumb of the other pile so that the first mentioned pilemay be easily and quickly brought into interlocking position with theother pile by moving it longitudinally therealong.

3. A sheet pile comprising a body portion having extending therealong atone edge two interfitting members integral with said body portion with aspace between them adapted to interfit with an adjacent pile uponmovement of the piles relatively longitudinally and adapted to hold thepiles against separation by lateral relative movement, one of theinterfitting members extending throughout only part the length of thebody portion so that one of the interfitting members, at the end of thebody portion, projects beyond the other, thereby providing a longerinterfitting member and a shorter interfitting member, the longerinterfitting member, when the sheet pile is inassembling position withan adjacent sheet pile, having similar interfitting members engaging andoverlapping one of the interfitting members of the adjacent sheet pileand the shorter interfitting memberof the first mentioned sheet pilebeing thereby in alignment with the space between the interfittingmembers of the adjacent sheet'pile so that the first mentioned sheetpile can be easily and quickly interfitted with the adjacent sheet pileby moving it longitudinally therealong.

4. A sheet pile comprising a body portion and 3 two interfitting membersintegral with the body portion extending along one edge'thereof andhaving a space between them which is adapted to interfit with an.adjacent pile .by moving the piles relativelylongitudinally andhold the:piles against separation by lateral relative movement one of theinterfitting members projecting, at one end, beyond the otherinterfitting member so that when the projecting end of said interfittingmember is brought into overlapping contact with an interfitting memberof an adjacent similar sheet pile, the other interfitting member of thefirst mentioned sheet pile is in alignment with the space between theinterfitting members of the adjacent sheet pile so that the first sheetpile may be moved longitudinally to interfitting position with theadjacent sheet pile.

5. The process of forming a composite structure of sheet piles whichhave, along their edges, cooperating thumbs and fingers, which processconsists in shortening the thumb of the first sheet pile so that aportion of the side face of re finger facing the thumb at the end of thebody portion is unobstructed by the thumb and thereafter bringing theinner face of the extreme end of the finger of a first sheet pile intooverlapping engagement with the thumb of a second sheet pile, with theend of the thumb of the first sheet pile above and in alignment with thespace between the thumb and finger of the second sheet, and moving thefirst sheet pile longitudinally along the sceond sheet pile to bring theinterlocking thumbs and fingers of the two sheet piles into interlockingengagement.

OGDEN R. OD'MAN.

